This study looked at the relationships between racial/ethnic makeup, neighborhood poverty, and recreational open space with an eye to identifying factors underlying disparate rates of obesity in African Americans. Residential segregation is understood as a major contributor to health inequity, and parks are one part of this equation. However, most studies have not considered how a threshold value of poverty or racial makeup may contribute to planning and investment decisions and subsequent impact on residents. The major purpose of this study was to conduct an empirical investigation into factors associated with segregation and neighborhood poverty in an urban environment.
Boston, Massachusetts, an old city in the United States, was the location for analysis. Census tract data from 2010 were used. Researchers measured the percent of non-Hispanic Black residents and percent of Hispanic residents as indicators of minority neighborhood racial and ethnic composition. The percent of families below the federal poverty level was established for each census tract. The measure of recreational open space included parks, playing fields, school fields and playgrounds. Population density was also included. Census and GIS data were used for the spatial analysis of correlations between socio-demographic variables and open space density. This study looked at density of open space rather than at actual access to and quality of that space, which are important factors in whether residents actually get health benefits from open space.
Researchers found that racial/ethnic composition of neighborhoods was associated with less open space, but that socioeconomic disadvantage was not. Black neighborhoods were less likely to have recreational open space.
The researchers suggest the need for policy interventions to remedy disparities in access to recreational open spaces in urban environments, especially segregated environments, such as mandating 10% of local land use areas dedicated to open space. They suggest that such interventions might contribute to reductions in obesity. They further suggest additional health impact assessments to ameliorate what they refer to as "the noxious health impact of segregation," an issue "not traditionally evaluated in land use decisions."
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